Mark Cornelison/Lexington Herald-Leader/MCTKentucky Wildcats forward Anthony Davis (23) joked with teammates during a press on Sunday, April 1, 2012, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Kentucky Wildcats will face the Kansas Jayhawks in the NCAA Tournament championship game.

Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis is out to become the first Associated Press National Player of the Year to win a national title since Duke’s Shane Battier 11 years ago. Kansas junior Thomas Robinson is out to give credence to a revote.

Davis won every major individual award in the nation this season and Robinson was No. 2 on almost everyone’s list.

“Anthony is a great player, all respect goes to him,” Robinson said Sunday. “He’s well deserving of the award. I gave up on that a long time ago. I just want to get a ring.”

Robinson averaged more points and rebounds than Davis — 17.7 points to 14.4 and 11.7 rebounds to 10.2. But Davis wasn’t asked to score as much in the Kentucky offense and shot 63.9 percent to Robinson’s 51 percent. And Davis was the nation’s greatest defensive force, averaging 4.6 blocks per game, while Robinson averaged less than one block. But Robinson had his own shot-blocker in teammate Jeff Withey, who led the nation in blocks.

And just like the battle of All-Americans between Robinson and Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger on Saturday, when they didn’t guard each other much, Davis and Robinson may not match up too often tonight.

“On paper, they’re not going to be matched up a lot against each other unless emergency switches or whatever,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “I don’t see it as a matchup between Davis and Robinson. I don’t see that at all.”

But it is a matchup between which of the two best players in the country can lead his team to a title. And they don’t have to face each other every possession to be going head-to-head in that.

“Anthony Davis is a great player, but he’s not Superman,” Robinson said. “We just have to be Kansas, do what we do best, keep being aggressive. He is a good player, but we’re not going to change anything we do.”

Buckeyes return to Columbus

The Ohio State players and staff spent the morning and afternoon in New Orleans before flying back to Columbus on Sunday night. The Buckeyes then went to the Schottenstein Center and were greeted by a crowd that The Lantern, the OSU student paper, estimated at 400.

Coach Thad Matta and several players spoke to the crowd, with The Lantern reporting that senior William Buford told the fans these “have been the greatest four years of my life.”

Buford was criticized for his play at times this season, sometimes justifiably, sometimes not, but it’s hard to argue with the way Buford kept things in perspective this year. In the losing locker room Saturday night, a reporter was asking about the criticism, which Buford said he ignored, when a reporter from a foreign publication who spoke limited English asked Buford to compare himself to Kansas big man Thomas Robinson, believing that Buford was in fact Jared Sullinger.

“Huh? Between me and Thomas Robinson?” Buford said with a smile. “Compare us? What?”

After the reporter was correctly pointed toward Sullinger, Buford laughed softly and said, “He’s probably the one criticizing me. See what I’m talking about?”

Rematch again

Just like the two national semifinals, the championship is a rematch of a regular-season game. Kentucky and Kansas both were able to win Saturday after beating Louisville and Ohio State during the year. Now Kentucky looks to repeat its 75-65 win over Kansas on Nov. 15, in what was the second game of the season for both teams, in the Champions Classic in New York.

Follow Us

cleveland.com is powered by Plain Dealer Publishing Co. and Northeast Ohio Media Group. All rights reserved (About Us).The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Northeast Ohio Media Group LLC.